Tribunal dismisses AA, AP’s petitions challenging Okpebholo’s election as Edo governor

The Edo state governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja has dismissed the case by Action Alliance (AA) challenging the election of Monday Okpebholo.

A three-member panel led by Wilfred Kpochi held that the petition filed by AA alongside its national chairman, Adekunle Omoaje, lacked merit.

The tribunal held that the petition touched on pre-election issues, which it lacked the requisite jurisdiction to entertain.

The petitioners alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) excluded its lawful candidate in the governorship election that held on September 21, 2024.

They alleged that contrary to various court judgements, the INEC accepted and recognised a candidate that the party did not validly nominate.

The petitioners also alleged that Okpebholo and the APC did not secure the majority of lawful votes cast during the election and that corrupt practices marred the exercise.

However, delivering judgment on Wednesday, the panel upheld all the preliminary objections by the respondents.

The tribunal agreed with the respondents that Omoaje did not participate in the governorship election and as such has no power to question the validity of the election. 

The tribunal ruled that Omoaje’s complaint was about not being recognised as the party’s national chairman for candidate nominations, but that his claims had no basis in the Electoral Act 2022.

AA’s candidate, Tom Iseghhi-Okojie, stepped down for Okpebholo, a few days before the governorship election.

ACCORD PARTY’S PETITION DISMISSED

The tribunal also dismissed a petition filed by Accord Party (AP) against Okpebholo’s election.

The tribunal held that the party and its governorship candidate, Bright Enabulele, made “spurious wild and weight” allegations of thuggery, stuffing ballots, harassing and molesting of voters but failed to name a single perpetrator.

The tribunal held that the petitioners were inconsistent in their claims.

In the final analysis, the tribunal held that there was “no meaningful evidence” for it to act upon to nullify Okpebholo’s election.

INEC had declared that Okpebholo of the APC winner of the election after pooling 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who secured 247, 655 votes.